Corybas (plant)

Helmet orchids
Corybas pictus - a South-East Asian species
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Orchidaceae
Subfamily:	Orchidoideae
Tribe:	Diurideae
Subtribe:	Acianthinae
Genus:	Corybas Salisb.[1]
Corybas range map
Synonyms[1]
Corysanthes R.Br. Calcearia Blume Nematoceras Hook.f. Anzybas D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. Gastrosiphon (Schltr.) M.A.Clem. & D.L.Jones Molloybas D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem. Singularybas Molloy, D.L.Jones & M.A.Clem.

Corybas, commonly known as helmet orchids, is a

capsule containing up to 500 seeds. As the fruit matures, the flower withers and the flower stem elongates to a length of up to 30 cm (12 in), aiding in seed dispersal.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

Corybas aconitiflorus was first formally described by Richard Salisbury, allegedly from a colour plate prepared by Ferdinand Bauer^[2] and thus became the type species for the genus. The description was published in The Paradisus Londinensis.^[8][9] Salisbury stated that the name of the genus was derived from similarity of the flowers to the covered head of the Greek Κορύβας (Korybas),^[10] a male dancer, shown in illustrations wearing a crested helmet, who worshipped the goddess Cybele. Korybas was a priest of Cybele, "whose religious rites were accompanied by frenzied music and dancing".^[11] A 2002 revision of Corybas split it into numerous genera,^[12] but this is not widely accepted.^[13][14]

Ecology

Pollination appears to be achieved by small insects, possibly mistaking the unusual flowers for fungi.^[2][15] Helmet orchids have not often been studied, partly because of their short-lived, inconspicuous flowers but also because the flowers are difficult to preserve as herbarium specimens. Many form clonal colonies but it is not known whether this is a characteristic of all species.^[3]

Distribution and habitat

Helmet orchids grow in India, South China, Taiwan, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, the Philippines, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Ponape, Indonesia, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Australia (including Macquarie Island), New Zealand (including Chatham, Stewart, Auckland and Campbell Islands), Tahiti, Samoa and the Society Islands. Australian species usually grow in moist, shady places, often with dense moss or on rotting logs, sometimes with orchids from other genera.

Gallery

• 
  Corybas pictus 1863 illustration from Curtis's Botanical Magazine
• 
  Vic. and Tas.
• 
  Corybas geminigibbus, from Malaysia and Borneo
• 
  Slaty helmet orchid C. incurvus from N.S.W., Vic, Tas. and S.A.
• 
  C. recurvus from W.A.
• 
  Corybas walliae from New Zealand